My Witco pieces look more of a walnut color than a golden oak to me. I know Minwax has a color chart on their web page that maybe of help. The paint is another animal altogether. The paint sometimes looks more like a colored stain and other times looks like a paint that has been watered down to look almost opaque. And then the overall top coat wax finish would have to be one that will not react with the paint in a bad way. Good luck with the restoration and thanks for posting pics of the progress.

_________________"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

Although not alot of progress due to iffy weather, I did do some more finish sanding and stained the two pieces that make up the bottom of the chair. I am going to stain, paint and varnish as I go. I decided to use Minwax Special Walnut stain, it is very dark, but it lightens up when you varnish.

As a side note, I have restored several pieces of furniture over the years. This has been the trickiest because of the raised grain on parts of the wood. I did my best to keep the grain original and not sand it down. I am very happy with the results thus far.

Great job. The stain looks great. Here is a clear picture of one of the chairs from Chin Tiki. May help with colors and fabric choices.
From flickr memeber Derekbodurka
_________________"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

Thanks for the feedback and the picture. The stumbling block I am at right now is the paint. I am not sure if I should use a water base or enamel paint, what colors come close to matching (although I will use a flat base) and I am hoping the varnish dulls the colors slightly. A little more sanding on the chair back and the stain will be going on. Hopefully sometime over the next few days?

I did get a picture from Tiki Lee that shows the colors a little better. I will try to match based on that.

Water based paint may be the way to go. Water based can be mixed or diluted fairly easy. I would stain several test pieces and give both enamel and water base a test run with the varnish top coat. Keep up the good work. This thread should help allot of folks out.
_________________"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

Yeah I am even more glad that you took these chairs Duane, I would of never attempted to restore them anyways.

I think they are coming along well

There are some great repo fabric websites where you can send them a pic of what you want done in fabric and they can duplicate it. Might be a good option when the wood part is done and you are ready to start on the cushions

My neighbor used to work for his parents business back in the 1960's selling Witco wholesale to all of the shops from San Francisco South to San Diego. He said that he always carried a blow torch and a can of Johnson's Wax to mend scratches and scuffs on his travel samples of Witco. He said that that stuff was always splitting and cracking and that he would hit it with the blowtorch lightly and then use a rag and buff off the charred wood with Johnson's Wax.

I think there are a couple other thread with the same question possed. Plus there is the son in law to Mr. Witco somewhere around here somewhere. Someone has your exact answer on Tiki Central
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